The Minister of Education, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi told Parliament yesterday that the government will sponsor all eligible students admitted to the University of Botswana (UB) this year.

She explained that the decision was taken after she met with UB representatives to reconcile the figures of students who have submitted applications for sponsorship.

She stated that as at July 9, 2010, there were 3,519 applications for sponsorship received by the ministry against the targeted 3,462, resulting in an excess of 59. “I am aware that some students did not meet the deadline for submission of applications for sponsorship. I am therefore of the view that it is only fair for [continue reading]

The Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) will in its first two years of operation focus on courses that the country has an acute shortage of and that can also share facilities.

“We have decided to start with programmes that the industry has a shortage in, for instance the college of engineering will kick start with geological, mining, geo-environmental and computer science engineering which are in high demand at the moment,” Vice Chancellor Kweku Bentil said.

Bentil added that these programmes would also share facilities such as laboratories and professors.

BIUST currently has a memorandum of understanding with Akita University from Japan, and is expected to tap from its vast technical experience in the research of mines and mineralogy. The biggest dividend to this marriage is the possibility of establishing a mining museum in Selebi-Phikwe. A visiting Japanese delegation from Akita, together with the BIUST staff visited one of the shafts at [continue reading]

KASANE- The Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) is said to be five months behind schedule.

Addressing the Chobe District full council meeting, BIUST director of communications and public affairs, Mr Shakie Kebaswele said they are faced with a major challenge of where the university will be operating, since their first intake would be in March 2011.

Mr Kebaswele said they are working closely with the Ministry of Education and Skills Development to find a solution to the problem, adding that a temporary place would have to be found so that they can open.

Therefore, he said they will be faced with cost implications as they will have to buy equipment for needed for operations.

He noted that despite the delay everything is in place, curriculum is being developed and there is [continue reading]

MAUN – The Minister of Education and Skills Development Mrs Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi has promised that she will restore both respect and dignity to the teaching fraternity.

Mrs Venson-Moitoi, who was addressing school heads from the North West region in Maun on Friday, noted that teaching was a leadership role in the society and people could only respect teachers if they trust them.

According to the minister, members of the society would respect the teaching profession if teachers adhered to professional etiquette both inside and outside the classroom.

She gave examples of teachers who over indulged in alcohol and muddle up with students at bars or [continue reading]

Despite calls for belt-tightening because of recession, the budget for the Ministry of Education has ballooned by 9.78 percent to P9.7 billion.

The former Education Minister Jacob Nkate was heavily criticised for recklessness last year when the budget for the ministry hit the P8 billion mark. A number of parliamentarians called for his head. This year, the ministry will spend P8.2 billion on recurrent budget, while the rest is for the development according to presentations on Thursday by the new Education Minister, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi before the parliamentary committee of supply.

The budget does not have any new projects and the development funds will be used on ongoing ones. Of the P8.2 billion recurrent budget, the Department of Teaching Service Management receives the [continue reading]

The Minister of Education and Skills Development (MoE&SD), Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi has informed Parliament that the downward trend in the students’ performance in the Botswana General Certificate to Secondary Education (BGCSE) bares evidence in the quality of education.

“This I must say is a clear indication that drastic measures need to be put in place in order to reform and revive the education sector,” she said adding that the ministry has identified various areas that need immediate attention. She said this includes among other things, the conditions of service for teachers, that is housing accommodation, office space, poor provision of teaching equipment, training of new teachers and retraining of those already in the job. “We intend to immediately find ways of [continue reading]

Mainly driven by the increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) effective from April, inflation will not be expected to fall back within the Bank of Botswana’s 3 to 6 percent objective range until the first quarter of next year.

VAT will increase from 10 percent to 12 percent in April as announced in the national budget for 2010/11 recently.A statement released by BoB PRO Chepete Chepete yesterday says the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) anticipates that following a short-term spike resulting from the impact of the increase in VAT, inflation will fall within the 3 to 6 percent objective range only in 2011.

Inflation, which registered a remarkable decrease in 2009 that led BoB to [continue reading]

MOSHUPA – Botswana will not only be developed by the amount of diamonds or copper nickel it has but by the skills its citizens possess entailing sound human resources, the Vice President, Lt Gen. Mompati Merafhe has said.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Moshupa last week, Lt Gen.Merafhe explained that some people often complained that university graduates were roaming the streets.

He said it should be noted that when the government educates its citizens it does not necessarily mean that it will later hire them but what it is doing is to empower them with life skills in order to be self-employed if needs be.

He noted that it is for this reason that the government is investing a lot in [continue reading]

GABORONE – The Botswana Training Authority has attained certification from the Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) for its quality management system. The authority is now ISO 9001:2008 certified which is an upgrade from the ISO 9001: 2000 the organisation was awarded in 2006.

Speaking at the award ceremony recently, BOBS managing director, Ms Masego Marobela, said the certificate was given in recognition of BOTAs Quality Management System which after assessment was found to be in line with the Botswana Standards (BOS ISO 9001:2008).

She further said attaining the certificate was proof that the Authority was committed to quality.

Ms Marobela further pointed out the benefits that BOTA stood to gain through the ISO 9001Quality Management System included improved productivity as work would be [continue reading]

London – Britain is tightening its rules on student visas to prevent people from flouting the rules and working illegally.

The changes – which are effective immediately – won’t stop genuine students from travelling to Britain to study but will close an avenue that has been exploited, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said on Sunday.

“There’s an awful lot more of adults, not young people, not coming to study degrees at universities but coming on short courses into this country,” Johnson told the BBC.

Asked if many of those students were “bogus” Johnson said, “Yes, yes”.

The Teaching Service Management (TSM) has revealed that the Ministry of Education is looking at ways of increasing the Remote Area Service Allowance to attract teachers to work in remote areas.

Acting director of TSM, Matlhogonolo Mokakapadi said they took the decision because they are faced with a problem of attracting teachers to work in remote areas.

He said this is despite having the RASA in place. “Teachers are still reluctant to take up posts there (remote areas) and we have made submissions for transfer policy in terms of incentives,” he said. He added that the most affected areas are Okavango, Chobe, Satau, Gantsi and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) is still looking at the recommendations in the recently released final report of the review of the grant/loan sponsorship scheme of the Department of the Tertiary Education Funding (DTEF).

Deputy permanent secretary responsible for the department, Golekanye Setume said yesterday that they are busy planning how to implement the recommendations. “This process will make us take a position on how to inform the policy on these recommendations,” he explained.

The final report of the review was released on November 25, 2009. The Evaluation Services Team – Botswana (BEST) recommended a new direction in human resources for the economy, award of government sponsorships and recovery of student loans for the scheme. The research team felt that [continue reading]

There was commotion yesterday at Oodi Primary School, on the outskirts of Gaborone, when the school initially refused to register about 22 Standard One pupils stating that they had already reached the approved limit for the school.

When asked for comment in this matter, the school head Dinah Buisanyang said that she is guided by the Ministry of Education’s establishment registers for primary schools of 2008/09. “The policy has always been there and it states that this school can only take up to 600 students. It is only that this is the first time that this has happened in this school,” she said.

She revealed that the school heads attended a regional meeting held in Gaborone last Friday where it was emphasized that [continue reading]